Shrunken Heads
by Riana Bay
Summary: When a spell goes wrong, Lily and James are turned into children. Very long one shot, set in their 7th year. Contains thunder, laugter, and 'Grandpa Dumbly'.


**A/N: Yeah, I don't know what Alfonso Dude was thinking when he put those shrunken head things in PoA, but this is what I think of when I hear the term '_shrunken head'._ **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you like. **

**PS: Happy-5-minutes-ago birthday Jo and Harry!**

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"Sirius, you're sure that's the spell?" Remus Lupin asked tiredly. It was the day before the full moon, and the seventh year Gryffindors were in Transfiguration.

"Yeah," Sirius said, consulting his book. "'_pequino',_ the spell to turn an animal into it's young. Right, we have a cat, so we want a kitten."

"Why couldn't we just use a shrinking solution?" muttered Peter Pettigrew, who looked both confused and scandalized.

"Well, Wormtail," said Remus in that understanding way of his, "sometimes there isn't time to make the potion, or maybe one has run out of the necessary ingredients."

"Whatever," Sirius said, waving a dismissing hand. "Let's just get this over with, I've got a date with Sheila Silvers I've got to get ready for."

"Sheila Silvers, huh?" Peter asked, clearly impressed. "Where are you taking her?"

"The broom cupboard," Sirius answered with a grin.

Remus snorted. "You know, Padfoot, you really could be a bit more romantic."

"Moony, if a girl was looking for romance, she'd date you."

Peter laughed while Remus scowled.

"Anyway, back to work." Sirius turned his attention back to his Transfiguration text. He really could be motivated to work when he had a date after class.

"Ten minutes, class," called Professor McGonagall.

"Right," Sirius continued. "So, we point it at what we're shrinking and say... PEQUINO!"

At the exact same moment Sirius was pointing his wand at their cat, Lily and James entered the room, late because they had been delivering a message to the headmaster from Professor McGonagall. As Sirius bellowed the incantation, the cat had leapt up and into Lily's arms. Lily and James had been holding hands, and the spell lit them up in electric blue light. They vanished from sight.

"SIRIUS BLACK!" bellowed Professor McGonagall, rushing forward to see what had happened.

There was a pile of robes on the floor where Lily and James had stood. From the pile came a giggle, and two heads emerged, followed by a grumpy looking kitten.

One head belonged to a grinning boy with wild black hair. The other was a little girl sitting at his side with long red curls and big green eyes. She looked terrified.

"Mommy?" the little girl whispered, looking around. Her big eyes began to fill with tears.

Professor McGonagall looked horrified. "Lily?" she whispered. "James?"

"Yeah, who are you?" said the little boy, still grinning. The miniature Lily Evans was hugging her knees and looking around.

"Wow," whispered Alli Landry, Lily's best friend, coming up and kneeling beside the children. "They don't look any older than five."

"Hi," whispered Lily, now looking a bit braver. "You look like Alli. She's my best friend, and we do everything together. She lives up the street. Is this my street?"

"No, dummy," said the little James. "This is.. Well, where is this?" He looked up at Peter Pettigrew and laughed again. "You're funny looking!"

"To the headmaster," whispered Professor McGonagall. "Mr. Black, Miss Landry, would you escort them?"

"Sure thing," Sirius said, staring at the little Lily and James as though they were a new breed of animal.

"Of course, Professor," Alli said, grinning. "Ok, Lily, James, hold hands, we're going for a little walk."

"EW!" both kids cried, looking scandalized.

"She's a _girl_," James said, frowning.

"He's a_ boy_, and he looks _dirty_," Lily said, wrinkling her nose.

Sirius quickly came up with a solution. "James hold my hand, Lily hold Alli's. You never know what you monsters could get you in these hallways."

"I'm not afraid of monsters," James said defiantly while Lily took Alli's hand.

"C'mon," Sirius said, taking his hand, and they exited the classroom, the whole class still staring at them.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

An hour later, Professor McGonagall made her own way to the headmaster's office. She could hear odd banging coming from inside and concluded that Dumbledore was trying to set the Head students right. She whispered the password, went up the spiral staircase, and timidly opened the door, expecting the worst.

The room was filled with smoke, and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust. She could make out Dumbledore's shape, laying still on the floor under his desk.

"Albus!" she gasped.

He looked up and grinned. "Hello, Minerva. Please be quiet for a minute." He then laid back down and remained motionless.

Something small crept past her in the mist. "I found you!"

Lily Evans, still in child form, grinned and jumped up and down.

"Ah, I admit defeat," Dumbledore said with a grin. "Have you found James yet?"

"Yes," said Lily with a sly grin. A banging sound came from the closet.

"Lily," the old man said sternly. "Did you lock James in the closet again?"

"Yes," she said defiantly, "because he tried to kiss me again."

"It's not my fault, Professor Sir!" came a muffled voice from the closet. "She's really pretty, and I couldn't help it!"

"No," said Dumbledore mildly. "And you never will."

"Grandpa Dumbly," Lily said happily, taking his hand. "Let's play another game."

"Just a minute, Lily," he said kindly. "Why don't you go see if you can get James out?"

She ran to the door, and he turned back to Professor McGonagall.

"You've been playing?" she asked incredulously. "Our head students are five years old, so you've been up here playing hide and seek?"

"The spell placed upon them has to be waited out," he said, smiling. "The children are happy and safe, and will return to themselves once the spell has run its course. For now, they must be kept amused and amusing. And amusing they are, for one refers to my as 'Professor Sir', while the other calls me 'Grandpa Dumbly'." He grinned even harder.

McGonagall looked around. His office looked as if it had been a very long hour since the children had arrived. The odd fog still filled the room. His desk had been covered by a tea set, and three brooms stood by the door. Various broken objects were scattered around randomly.

Dumbledore followed her gaze. "The smoke adds to the game of hide and seek," he said, pulling out his wand and vanishing it. "I must say, Lily is a superb hider. She was on top of the bookcase for fifteen whole minutes before James and I found her. I was afraid we had lost her. The tea set.. Well, Lily threw a tea party at which I was covered in a flowered hat and addressed as 'Mrs. Grandpa Nesbit'. The brooms.. We went for a fly. And as for the broken things..we got a bit out of hand during a smashing game of Tag. Ah, they make me young again."

"Professor Sir," James said, approaching in clothes the headmaster had conjured for him. "Could we have something to eat?"

"Certainly James! What would you two like?" Lily was now next to him too. Both kids shrugged.

"Peanut butter and jelly, I think." Dumbledore conjured a plate of sandwiches and two glasses of milk. "So, Minerva," he said, turning back to her. "What do you think?"

She was wringing her hands and still looking frightened at the children. "I think it's going to be a very long day."

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Lily and James were not back to normal by that night, however. They had been moved from Dumbledore's office to the Head student common room, and Alli and Sirius had been sent back in as reinforcements, as they knew their friends best. They played a game, and Lily found a picture of grown up James on a table.

"Woah," she giggled. "Who is _he_?"

"Friend of mine," Sirius said with a grin. "Why, you think he's cute?"

Lily giggled and nodded. James grabbed the picture from her.

"He looks like a prat," he said, proudly showing off the new word he had learned from Sirius.

"Good boy," Sirius laughed. "Hey, wait until you see this!" He ran upstairs and grabbed the picture of Lily he knew James kept in his pillowcase. "What do you think of her?" he asked, handing James the picture.

"Wow," James whispered. "She's beautiful." Now Lily scowled and took the picture from him.

"She is very pretty..." she said wistfully.

"Alright, you guys," Alli said, returning with blankets. "Bedtime."

They were laid out on the two couches facing each other, wrapped in blankets.

"You know," Lily said to Alli as she tucked her in. "You really do look like my friend Alli."

"My name is Alli too," Alli said with a grin.

"How about Uncle Sirius tells you kids a story?" Sirius asked with a grin. The kids cheered. "Ok. Once upon a time there was a beautiful, handsome man. Everybody loved him, and who could blame them? One night he had plans to snog Sheila Silvers in the broom cupboard, but his best friend-"

"Sirius, please," Alli interrupted him.

"Right," he said. "The end. Go to sleep."

But Lily and James were already asleep, James with his head on his arm and Lily curled up in a little ball, her red curls covering a bit of her face.

"They really are cute," Sirius said, smiling.

"Mm," Alli said, reaching over to ruffle James's hair. "We're supposed to sleep here and keep an eye on them. Should we sleep on the floor?"

"I guess," Sirius said, but he was already starting to fall asleep in his seat. Alli laughed and curled up in a ball on the floor.

**X.X.X**

About an hour later, the room was shaking. There was a thunder storm outside, and it was so severe that the windows were rattling. Lily awoke with a gasp, pulling her blanket up to her chin.

"It's beautiful," came a voice from the window, and she looked over to see James standing by it and looking out at the storm.

"No it's not, it's terrible!" Lily whispered back fiercely.

"Are you scared?" James walked back over to her couch.

"No," she said defiantly.

"I won't make fun of you," he said seriously.

"Well, maybe a little."

"Come here." James got on the sofa with her and opened his arms for her. She hesitated, but then crawled down the couch to him. Alli and Sirius were both sound asleep, Sirius snoring loudly and muttering something about lemons in his sleep.

"Thanks, James," Lily whispered. Thunder rattled the room again, and she buried her face in his chest.

"It's ok," he said, smiling and awkwardly touching her hair. "I'll protect you."

"I know," Lily said with a smile. They laid there for a bit before she whispered, "You make me feel safe." And then they both fell asleep.

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Lily and James woke up the next morning in each others' arms, returned to their normal size. They had a good laugh over the whole ordeal with Alli and Sirius, who told them about the whole picture thing. For a while they referred to their headmaster as 'Grandpa Dumbly' or 'Professor Sir' before things returned to normal. The kitten was found inside the trick step and named Thunder. And that, my friends, is the real meaning of a Shrunken Head.


End file.
